Last Sunday, January 19, the presentation of the book “Vivir años, perdurar siglos” took place in the city of Valladolid, with the subtitle “.Joaquina de Vedruna, a biographical sketch. Notes and context “. The event was held as part of a meeting that brought together members of the Vedruna family and people interested in deepening the figure and legacy of the foundress of the Carmelite Sisters of Charity.
The work has been written by Mabel Burgell, ccv, and Ramon Rial, and constitutes a unique proposal within the wide range of publications dedicated to Joaquina de Vedruna. The book was originally published in Catalan in the year 2023 and, on the occasion of the celebrations of the bicentenary of the Foundation of the Congregation, it has been translated into Spanish, thus broadening its scope and facilitating its reading to a wider public.
Throughout its 160 pages, the authors present a biography of Joaquina de Vedruna with a particularly remarkable feature: it is not only a narrative account of her life, but a biography accompanied by explanatory notes, historical data, photographs, diagrams and documents that allow a rigorous and visual contextualization of her life and work. This approach offers the reader the possibility of a double reading: on the one hand, a continuous reading of the biography; on the other hand, a more leisurely and reflective reading, focused on the knowledge of the social, cultural and geographical environment that influenced Joaquina’s decisions and life choices.
From the beginning of the publishing project, the aim has been to produce a careful and quality edition, both in terms of content and visual aspect. The book has a modern and attractive design, as well as a careful use of images, through photographs selected with historical and aesthetic criteria, which contributes to make the reading more accessible and suggestive.
The intention of this publication is not addressed exclusively to the Vedruna Sisters, but to the whole Vedruna family in a broad sense: teachers, parents, family associations, students -especially in higher educational stages-, as well as institutions and entities with which the educational and social work of Vedruna maintains a relationship. In this sense, the book is also conceived as an institutional gift that helps to explain and transmit what the name “Vedruna” means today and what are the values that sustain it.
The book has a foreword by Sr. M. Teresa Cuervo Sister General of the Congregation, and is presented as a significant and necessary contribution to the commemoration of the 200th anniversary of the Founding of the Congregation. During the presentation ceremony, the authors expressed their gratitude for the effort made by the Vedruna Catalunya Educació Foundation and the Vedruna Province of Europe, whose support has made possible this publication, which contributes to know Joaquina de Vedruna in all the richness and depth of its multiple dimensions.
Mabel Burgell, ccv, and Ramon Rial
You can view the online presentation of the book, thanks to the Vedruna Province of Europe:
